New owner needs advice on upgrades

[mikesz]

Congrats on the Boxster. Personally my advice to anyone is either you need a boat load of money to pay someone to fix it or you need to fix it yourself. Since I am cheap and don't trust anyone I have done most work on my car myself. I recommend starting with routine maintenance since you have no idea what was done to the car prior to your ownership. I was in the same boat no documentation. Basics, air filter and based on my research on the forums not K&N, fuel filter, spark plugs and perhaps change out the plug tubes, oil change(in the trunk the sticker says mobil 1 so I bought 2 5 gallon containers of mobil 1 from Wal-Mart and an oil cartridge and for less than $60 I changed my oil. I also did a brake job, new rotors, ceramic brake pads, sensors, ebay $225 my labor. I purchased the durametric software $300 sometimes you can find someone who is selling one on one of the forums for less. the enthusiast version will allow you to use it on 3 unique cars its a great tool to check to make sure you systems are working correctly. I would check to see if the coolant fans are working properly and the engine bay fan. I found my right fan wasn't working at all and binding and blowing fuses and eventually fried a row of fuses, $8 part $450 to diagnose and fix at local Porsche dealer. I subscribe to several forums for info. the people on these forums are terrific and you can learn a lot from their pain and share some of your with people like you. I buy parts from a variety of sources Pelican being one of them. However, they being west coast and me being east coast sometimes I don't want to wait and so look for more local suppliers but they usually have parts in-stock and are very helpful over the phone. Pedros is another great site his DIY are great and he is more of a DIY/hack like me so between those to sites and various forums you can usually get an answer. I too would like to add some aftermarket rims and the like but for now normal maintenance is keeping me busy. until you get the car sorted out I suggest you save your money. there will be plenty of unexpected repairs that you will HAVE to bring to local repair shop. Not trying to dampen your enthusiasm but I am a realist. We enjoy our Boxster a great deal like one of the family but they do get expensive and after all its all about DRIVING them. Oh yeah, I bought a factory hardtop and speedster humps, I HAD to have them so not all of my spending was logical and practical. keep us posted on your experiences and ENJOY!